Turkey, Syria Earthquake Live Updates: Rescuers find more alive in Turkey on 8th day of earthquake

More than 4,300 people were dead and more than 7,600 others were injured in northwest Syria as of Feb. 12 following the deadly earthquake and aftershocks in neighbouring Turkey, the UN office for humanitarian affairs (OCHA) said in a statement on Monday.

The earthquake-stricken areas in Turkey were a hub for the production of textile raw materials, according to Ekonomi newspaper. The region mainly traded with the Middle East and the earthquakes could lead to a significant impact on textile exports, Ekonomi cited businessman Erol Gulmez as saying. Yarn factories in Kahramanmaras may stay suspended for six months.

Rescuers' team was digging a tunnel to reach what was believed to be a trapped grandmother, mother and 30-day-old baby, broadcaster CNN Turk reported.

"We're trying to tell everyone: Put politics aside, this is a time to unite behind a common effort to support the Syrian people," he said.

The region has received little aid compared with government-held areas.

A girl aged two was pulled from the rubble of Turkey's catastrophic earthquake after being buried under debris for 150 hours. Rescuers celebrated when the child was carried to safety and given oxygen amid the devastation. It came as the death toll from the tragedy was predicted to hit more than 50,000.

A Belfast woman said she can't sit by and do nothing after seeing her friend so badly affected by the devastating earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria. Marie McGlade has set up a fundraising page to try and help her Turkish pal Mehmet Suremli and his wife Fiona O'Connor Suremli. Fiona is originally from Co Fermanagh and the couple run O'Connor's bar in the Turkish resort of Gumbet.

The government has denied the allegations.

As outrage grows, authorities have arrested three people linked to the construction and development business - including two developers trying to flee the country - and issued warrants for 114 more

China sent the second batch of supplies to earthquake-hit areas of Syria and has asked Chinese rescue teams that have not left for disaster zones in Turkey and Syria to cancel trips in order to ease the burden on rescue operations. The China Association for Disaster Prevention called on Saturday for Chinese rescue teams to cancel or suspend their trips to not increase the burden on hard-hit areas, and avoid risks due to inclement weather. Cotton tents, family kits, jackets and other daily necessities, as well as medical supplies, were being provided to Syria by the Red Cross Society of China, CCTV reported on Monday. China has already committed financial aid to Turkey and Syria, and has sent a number of rescue teams from several parts of the country, including 82 members dispatched by the Chinese government, as the death toll tops 33,000. (Reuters)

Turkey vowed on Sunday to probe anyone suspected of responsibility for the collapse of buildings in the country’s devastating earthquakes nearly one week ago and has already ordered the detention of 113 suspects. Vice-president Fuat Oktay said overnight that 131 suspects were under investigation for their alleged responsibility in the construction of buildings that failed to withstand the quakes. “Detention orders have been issued for 113 of them,” Oktay said. “We’ll follow this up meticulously until the necessary judicial process is concluded.”

The WHO chief said Sunday that Syria's President Bashar al-Assad had voiced openness to more border crossings for aid to be brought to quake victims in the country's rebel-held northwest. World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus met with the Syrian president in Damascus on Sunday afternoon to discuss the response to the devastating earthquake which has killed more than 33,000 people across Syria and Turkey. Concerns have been running particularly high for how aid might reach all those in need in Syria, which has been devastated by more than a decade of civil war. "The compounding crises of conflict, Covid, cholera, economic decline and now the earthquake have taken an unbearable toll," Tedros said after visiting Aleppo and witnessing the devastation first hand. He said he was "waiting to move across lines to the northwest, where we've been told the impact is even worse". (AFP)

An earthquake of magnitude 4.7 struck Turkey's southern city of Kahramanmaras on Sunday (local time), according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the epicentre of the first 7.8-magnitude tremor that upturned millions of lives in the pre-dawn hours of last Monday (February 6). "A magnitude 4.7, 24 km SSE of Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Time 00:03 hrs; Location: 37.390°N 37.048°E; Depth: 15.7," USGS reported. More than 33,000 people have been killed and tens of thousands injured after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Turkey and Syria on last Monday, officials said. Meanwhile, Turkey's Hatay airport, located in one of the hardest-hit provinces, has resumed operations, the Turkish Transport Ministry has said, reported Al Jazeera. (ANI)

Business owners in a central district of Turkey's Antakya city were emptying their shops on Sunday to prevent their merchandise from being stolen by looters in the wake of the devastating earthquakes. Two massive earthquakes that struck early on February 6 have left more than 33,000 dead in Turkey's south and Syria's northeast. In Antakya, residents and aid workers who came from other cities have cited worsening security conditions, with widespread accounts of businesses and collapsed homes being looted. Some residents who were left homeless by the earthquake and are now sleeping in their cars or tents have said their valuable belongings including gold have been stolen. President Tayyip Erdogan has said the government would deal firmly with looters, noting that a state of emergency had been declared. Under a presidential decree, the detention period for looters has been lengthened to four days from one. (Reuters)